Sarah Palin Complains About "the Race Card" and a Chair That Looks Like a Black Woman

Welcome to another edition of This Week in Racism. I’ll be ranking news stories on a scale of 1 to RACIST, with “1” being the least racist and “RACIST” being the most racist.

-A common complaint I, and others who comment on race issues, receive is that we are "race baiting," i.e., using racial tension to further a political agenda. This can be a very effective rhetorical tactic, because if the person leveling the accusation of race baiting can sway others to their side, it renders the other party's feelings irrelevant. The wrinkle in all of that is that it presumes that the accused has a discernable agenda. The only thing I'm after is to tell you what happened, hopefully make you laugh about it, and foster discussion. I don't carry water for any politician, political party, or cause (unless you count "asking people to not be shitty to each other" as a cause). That doesn't stop folks like Sarah Palin from leveling the charge of "playing the race card" on anyone they don't agree with.

Sarah Palin, like me and countless other media types, makes a living as a cultural commentator. It's in her best interest to get the largest number of people talking about her opinions as possible. So, how could she help herself when given the opportunity to use Martin Luther King Day to attack a political rival? That's like asking Michael Douglas to not give a creepy awards acceptance speech. It's impossible. Because of the brief nature of the media in which she was working, Palin didn't specify when Barack Obama played the race card in her Facebook post, but my best guess is that she was referring to a statement Obama made which was published by the New Yorker where he said that racial animosity plays a role in his lowered approval ratings.

My first reaction to this was, "whoa, Barry, quit playing the race card, dude," because it sounded like he was passing the buck for his administration's many legitimate failures. The NSA spying scandal, the proliferation of drone warfare, and his botching of the health care marketplace rollout are serious problems that have occurred under his watch. Anyone giving him a straight pass for these transgressions isn't paying attention. Still, in that very same New Yorker story, Obama tempers his statement by rightly pointing out that much of his remaining support stems from voters being overly enamored of the fact that he's our first black president. Barack Obama is to blame for many things, but being the first person of color to be elected to America's highest political office is not one of them. He can't stop people from loving him because of something that is totally out of his control. He also can't stop them from hating him. He's just as stuck with his race—and the social implications of his race—as a white person that others judge solely on their skin color. 5

-Unfortunately, race is just a thing that society has to deal with. The idea that we're all going to magically become colorblind one day is a fantasy, even if that fantasy is perpetuated by the memory of Dr. King's famous dream. A prime example of this is Dasha Zhukova, girlfriend of Russian oil baron and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich. Zhukova posed for a photo in a European fashion blog called Buro 24/7 on a chair designed to look like a black woman. The image (seen at the top of this article) is a play off of a sculpture made by English pop artist Allen Jones. The woman in Jones's sculpture was white, and Jones was known for his fascination with sado-masochist imagery. Jones has seen the photo and called it "tacky and distasteful" according to BBC World News. Buro 24/7's editorial team and Zhukova have since apologized and stated they are against racism. This might shock my loyal readers, but I believe them. I also don't think Dasha Zhukova is racist. The problem is that for every person who "doesn't see race," there is another person who does. The chances of an image of a rich white woman sitting on a nude black woman evoking visions of historical racial bondage are pretty high. If Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman can't even give an obnoxious post-game interview without being called a nigger, then it's asinine to claim that racism doesn't exist.

Commentators like Sarah Palin are never going to get what they want, and Barack Obama is never going to be judged solely on his record, because we're all trapped living in the real world. In that world, slavery happened, apartheid happened, the Holocaust happened, the internment of Japanese-Americans happened, and the institutional mistreatment of Native Americans happened. We can try to do what we can to make things better, treat others equally, and fight back against negative stereotypes. That won't change the fact that race makes people feel stuff. Sometimes, that stuff is pride, like pride over a world leader that looks like you. Sometimes, that stuff is shame when someone that looks like you is being sat on, either literally or metaphorically. The only thing that can be done now is for people to think about what their actions mean, and how those actions will be perceived. It sounds simple, but don't ever expect the limitless human capacity. 7

"@civilwarcometh: @BrandonMArms @RedNationRising I'm past impeachment. It's time to arrest and hang him high. http://t.co/Li1e0fzCLi" Agreed

— Joshua Black 2014 (@JoshuaBlack2014) January 20, 2014

-Speaking of angry black people, have you seen this guy, Joshua Black? Mr. Black is running for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives and recently tweeted that President Barack Obama is a "traitor" and should be hanged. He's not really forthcoming with specific acts of treason that President Obama committed, but maybe he should look up the legal definition of the term, because I'm fairly certain threatening the life of a sitting head of state is one of those things that is treason. The Secret Service is currently investigating Mr. Black, which adds fuel to my "probably not a great idea to threaten the president" theory.

Inciting a mob to go out and hang someone based on a biased interpretation of the law was pretty common in the 20th century. Joshua Black should probably be aware of the implications of demanding a black public figure be hanged. If you feel the itch to crawl down the mangy rabbit hole that is Black's inflammatory Twitter account, you'll find a classic defense of his actions. He cites the critics of President Bush who burned Dubya in effigy. That was wrong, and so is this.

It's completely irresponsible to incite violence toward a president from either party (or anyone for that matter), and it's doubly irresponsible when there are plenty of Americans who would love to end Barack Obama's life for his policies—and worse yet, for the color of his skin. The maniacs who love to throw around words like "treason" with impunity are the same ones who, like Sarah Palin, think that people are too free with accusations of racism. If you think calling someone a racist is bad, try telling them they betrayed the nation they swore to protect, and should be killed. One is far more damaging to the public discourse than the other. 5

The Most Racist Tweets of the Week:

If this chink doesn't stop laughing when someone answers a question wrong I'm probably gonna kill him.

— Nick Budd (@stud_budd76) January 23, 2014

Just saw some beaner car swerve so he wouldn't hit a leaf. A LEAF

— katie ames (@ames_katie) January 23, 2014

Richard Sherman just proved you can take the nigger out of the hood but you can't the nigger out of the nigger #SFvsSEA #Seahawks

— Steve Fleishman (@steveflei) January 20, 2014

Richard Sherman's a nigger

— Brady (@BradySausville) January 20, 2014

Lmaooo @RSherman_25 you are such a nigger

— Masi (@itsmasi) January 20, 2014

Richard sherman is a fucking coc sucking mother fucking nigger asshole cunt licking fucking fuck

— Mark Mancini (@BigBalls_Mark) January 20, 2014

@dave_schilling